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When you watch Thomas Jones’ first press conference as a member of the Kansas City Chiefs, it’s clear that he has been very impressed with Matt Cassel.

“Having a guy like Matt, I played against him with the Jets, I got a chance to see him first hand,” Jones said. “He’s got great skills and he seems like a leader, the type of quarterback you want to have in the huddle. That was definitely something I was looking forward to and I’ve been around him now for the past couple weeks and he’s a great person.

“He works harder than any quarterback that I’ve ever seen and I’ve only seen him for two weeks.”

But the question has to be asked: Did Jones leave New York to get away from Mark Sanchez?

At no point in his first Q&A session did he throw any direct barbs at his former quarterback, but he did get very specific about why he wanted to line up with Cassel.

“Just having the opportunity to play with a guy who has experience that has played in big games and wants to be a great player means a lot to me. It means I have to step my game up too.”

The Jets rookie showed some promise on the field, but he also had the tendency to let other things (like being on Saturday Night Live) take the focus off of football.

There were many different factors in his decision to leave New York for Kansas City, not the least of which was bitterness after the Jets tried to re-sign him at a discount after cutting him. Like most players, Jones thrives when he is being pushed by those around him and it’s not a stretch to say that Sanchez never fully immersed himself in the game.